Search This Blog

How Freebies & Coupons Essentially Saved My Butt

I get asked all the time how did you start into freebie hunting and why..and I realized I never really posted about it and I think it's time I did.

In 2011 I was a stay at home mom of 3 very hyper and active boys and living on one income trying to make ends meet. It was almost not possible , and then I found couponing and free samples!

My very first contest I ever entered and won was from Skinny Cow.
The prize offered was a pink digital camera, free product coupons for their ice cream products. Sorry for the horrible picture it was 2012 after all. Winning this first prize was all it took for me to see contests were worth the time to enter. Getting the camera from Skinny Cow is what made me start a blog in 2012 named Canada Freebies Eh.

I started my very first blog sitting on the couch in my living room while my boys were at school to start keeping track of the contests I found and prizes I wanted to win. I had NO clue how to run a blog or anything about computers at all.

I entered every contest I came across even the ones that weren't legit! Yep I was a contest newbie full of excitement and didn't know that scammers were other their trying to get my email address and info. Reading and some more reading and even more reading online taught me what to watch for and what not to do.

I started winning tons of prizes which saved me a TON of money on gifts for all the birthday parties my boys were invited too and even Christmas gifts for my boys. I was so hooked!! I focused on entering contests that were offering prizes I needed or wanted to win. Grocery giveaways , laundry giveaways everything that would save me some cash in the end. Focusing my contest entering made my wins skyrocket!

Along with winning prizes came grocery coupons I came across online and again I turned to reading everything I could get my hands on about saving money at the grocery store and how to get most of my groceries free or next to free.

When Walmart in little Orillia, Ontario paid me $3.57 inoverage for buying 20 bottles of Arm & Hammer laundry soap I actually went home and cried a little. I got 22 FREE bottles of Arm &Hammer and got paid! I was struggling to make ends meet and wanted to provide everything my boys needed and sometimes wanted, and this deal was a year's worth of laundry soap that I didn't have to worry about buying until the following year!

Between contest prizes I was winning and the amount of free groceries and almost free groceries I was getting every month it made the extras that come with being a parent so much easier. If you have school age kids you know what I mean...Birthday invitations from every kid in the class and your kid want's to go! I never paid out of pocket for another birthday gift or Christmas gift just by freebie hunting, contest entering and taking my couponing to the extreme.

Getting free full size products like shampoo, make-up products and household products completely free was just so amazing to me when I first started this hobby. I was like every other skeptic who says you can't get anything free, and all freebies are a scam. As you can see be each post right here . Free stuff is everywhere you just have to know how to find it and get it.

The things I stuck to while being a stay at home mom were these 4 things. It helped make ends meet, gave me the opportunity to try such a huge variety of products without going broke and to have gifts on hand for every occasion without touching my single income.

There are so many tips and tricks to getting totally free products mailed right to your home without even paying shipping. Avoiding the scams and fake freebies can be tricky to the untrained eye, and contest rules can be quite the confusing feat if you don't know what you are looking for.

Popular Posts

Every month I am going to give one super lucky reader a Cottonelle prize pack! A little gift from my home to yours to help with rising costs on everyday products in Canada.

There will be 5 prize packs in total given away - one each month. The Cottonelle giveaway starts on February 9, 2019 and ends on June 9, 2019. Oh, and as always our giveaways are only open to Canadian residents.

On the last day of each month during the giveaway a winners name will be drawn and posted at the very bottom of this page! So check back monthly to see if you are a winner!

Make sure to join me on Facebook too for daily contests, giveaways and free stuff in the mail for Canada.

Topbox Circle is the most fun and amazing free beauty product testing opportunity out there right now! Mission boxes with the latest trending free beauty products mailed right to your door in gorgeous packaging for you to keep, use and enjoy.

All they ask is that you share your honest thoughts and feelings about the products you get free, and to share those thoughts online.

You think getting top brand high quality beauty products free is a myth? Let me prove you wrong and start you on your way to trying totally FREE beauty products.

The missions come often which is so exciting! Signing into your account daily is the best advice I can give you. Check for surveys for the upcoming missions and answer them right away! Spots are limited.

To see past mission boxes that have arrived in my mailbox. Want to be alerted when we spot a new survey or free sample? Join the My Canadian Mailbox Facebook group. Group members are amazing and also share when they spot a Topbox Circle offer.

With the love of entering contests comes a lot more spam email in the last couple years. After a few months of entering contests your email inbox can be a jumble of winning emails and spam emails. There are certain things to watch for when you get an email claiming you won a prize.

As much as the excitement over takes us when we see " Congratulations" or You're a Winner" our common sense needs to kick in and make sure it's a legitimate winner notification email.

5 Things to Watch for in Fake Winning Emails

1. Spelling Errors

When I say spelling errors one single typo is not enough for you to get up in arms about. But where there are blatant spelling and grammatical errors in the text odds are this isn't a legit winner email. I have seen winner emails with even the company name spelled wrong. So watch closely as you read the email.

2. From a Massive Brand

In the last year or so emails claiming to be from Facebook or Amazon or other very large brands have been …